Kanye

We all remember the infamous 2009 MTV video music awards when Taylor Swift won Best Female Video of the year and Kanye West walked on stage, grabbed the mic and said, "I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time."

Kind of a jerk move, yes, but due to his controversial personality people often overlook Kanye's music.

Say what you will about Kanye's character or personal life, and in all honesty the negatives are probably true. But still what can't be denied is the sheer musical genius that Kanye possesses. Without a doubt Mr. West is one of the best producers in the game right now and may be one of the greatest musicians of our lifetime.

The versatility of Mr. West elevates him above any other recording artist. He raps, sings, produces and heck... I bet my man can dance too.

The numbers don't lie either. All of his albums have gone platinum at least once and he has won 12 Grammy's. These are very impressive accolades for any recording artist, but it's the way he won these awards that is so impressive.

Early in his career artists in the music industry recognized him as a producer but gave him little respect as a rapper. That all changed when College Dropout hit in 2004. After listening to the first few tracks there is no doubt, in this bloggers eyes, that the album was an instant classic. With hits like "All Falls Down", "Jesus Walks" and "The New Workout Plan" it's easy to see that Kanye was more talented than anyone expected. One line off of the album stands out as one of the greatest lines in rap history, "Killin y'all n****z on that lyrical s*** Mayonnaise colored Benz, I push Miracle Whips." It still gives me goose bumps.

With the success of his first album Kanye was under a lot of pressure to follow it with an album of equal success. Then in 2005 he released Late Registration. Fans of Mr. West will tell you this album was equally as good as, if not better than, his debut album. Songs like "Gold Digger", "Heard Em Say" and "Diamonds" propelled the album to a top 25 spot on the U.S. billboards.

Then came the release of Graduation in 2007. This album showed a much different side of Kanye West. By sampling Daft Punk's "Stronger" and collaborating with Auto-Tune master T-Pain Kanye was able to create an electronic sound that had never been heard before in the Hip-Hop industry. It was also in this album that he began using Auto-Tune while singing. A perfect segue to his final album.

Kanye's most debated album came in 2008 when he dropped 808s Heartbreak. In the album Kanye tells the story of a breakup with each song describing a different story. The reason this album is so heavily disputed is because Kanye sang for a majority of it. It is no secret that Kanye is a HORRIBLE singer. But, with the use of Auto-Tune he was able to pull it off. Not only was he able to pull it off, he was able to create an amazing album. Songs like "Heartless", "Amazing" and "Robocop" boosted the album to number one on the U.S. billboards.

With the release of his final album Kanye West solidified his versatility as an artist. From his first album to his last we saw a recording artist grow right before our very eyes. He managed to gain credit as a producer, rapper and singer.

So, whether Kanye is stealing Taylor Swift's limelight or saying that, "George Bush hates black people" we can all agree that the controversy surrounding Mr. West truly makes him, as President Barack Obama put it, a "jackass". But he is without a doubt one very talented "jackass".